The Rudolf Steiner Archive

8. Theosophy in the Gospels — An Easter Reflection

Article in “Deutschland, Weimarische Landeszeitung”, Second Edition, March 27, 1904

[ 1 ] Theosophical Lecture. On Friday evening, Dr. Rudolf Steiner delivered the sixth of his theosophical lectures on “Theosophy in the Gospels: An Easter Reflection” in the large recreation hall.

[ 2 ] The speaker demonstrated the profound meaning that can be found in the legends and myths of various peoples when one seeks to understand them from the perspective of a symbolic view of nature. Throughout the ages, people have sensed the profound harmony between the striving human soul and the phenomena of nature. When, with each new spring, the sun increases its power and draws the slumbering life forces of plants from the Earth’s womb, people felt that a similar process was taking place within the human being in a spiritual sense. The sun became a metaphor for the eternal world spirit, which is capable—when the time is right for a person—of awakening their dormant soul seed and drawing the spiritual human being forth from the physical. Among the many legends whose meaning lies in this direction, the speaker highlighted the legend of the Argonauts. Jason is the symbol of the dying human being. He retrieves the ram’s fleece, which is the symbol of the power through which human beings ascend to the heights of spiritual life. Just as the sun stands in the sign of the ram or lamb in spring and receives new strength through its union with this constellation, so too does the human being attain his highest goal through union with the higher spiritual power—with the “Lamb,” as a sign of divine power. The course of the sun thus became a parable of human life, and the appearance of the spring sun a symbol of the resurrection of the human spirit from the bonds of sensory life. Christ himself therefore refers to himself as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29). What the ancient pagan myths expressed in imagery—that human beings must celebrate an inner Easter—is expressed in a sublime way in the greatest event of world history: the appearance of the “Easter Lamb,” the Son of God. And what had previously been made accessible only to a select few in secret temples, during the so-called “initiations” or mysteries, Jesus of Nazareth brought to all of humanity. For in his infinite compassion, he wanted even those who believed—even if they did not see—to be “blessed.” (John 20:29) The term “seeing” refers to “initiation” into the mysteries, which allowed only the chosen few to receive the truth in its pure form, while the others had to content themselves with the symbolic image, the myth. Through Christ’s sacrificial death, what had previously borne fruit for only a few was bestowed upon all for all time. That is why Peter said, regarding the Gospel in relation to the earlier mythical folk religions: “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ known to you, but we were eyewitnesses of his glory.” (2 Peter 1:16)

[ 3 ] The speaker then demonstrated, through a comprehensive explanation of the “miracle of Lazarus,” how Jesus himself first performed an initiation in the spirit of the ancient mysteries. For only those who recognize that this is an Easter celebration of the Spirit—not an ordinary death, but the death of the sensual human being, in which the spiritual human being is awakened—can understand this account of the raising of Lazarus. Jesus says this himself: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies.” (John 11:25) Lazarus’s illness is a birth—namely, that of the higher spiritual man from the earthly, sensual man. This is again attested to by Jesus’ words: “This illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4) Christ thereby showed all peoples what He had expounded as a theosophical teaching in His magnificent conversation with Nicodemus (cf. John, chapter 3): “Truly, I say to you: unless one is born of the soul and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) The speaker pointed out in various passages of the Gospel how it is a proclamation of the “inner Passover of the human soul”—the message of the resurrection of the spiritual human being. He holds the view that one arrives at the most sublime truth of Christianity precisely when one takes the Gospels “literally.” One need only have been prepared through theosophy to truly understand the profound “spirit” of the words of Scripture. What the ancient myths hinted at in symbolic form, the story of the suffering and resurrection of the Son of God has presented to all humanity as historical fact. From this perspective, the great intentions of the Sermon on the Mount are also revealed; it begins (in the correct translation) with the “theosophical” words (Matt. 5:3): “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the Spirit, for they will find the heavenly kingdoms within themselves.”